You Must Die
by Pardra
Summary: X fought for justice; for honor. There was a striking absence of it in Zero's death.


You Must Die

In the time it had taken him to scale a fortress and shoot fireballs at Sigma, his best friend's body had gone missing- scavenged.

Across the shattered pavement, scuffed red with paint and blood, a single blond hair coiled like a thin, golden wire where he'd held the lifeless body; where he'd felt that horrible lurch through his arms when Zero's head was no longer supported by his neck. That incredibly brave, reckless, _stupid_ android had given his life here for a silly, rookie pacifist, and they'd only left one hair of him behind? He had thought that even Mavericks had some honor, that they had respected the great Crimson Hunter: If Zero were here he would have reminded X of how painfully naive he could be.

But sometimes X couldn't help it -he a philanthropist, built to fight for justice and the lack of it here was staggering. He refused to believe the Mavericks couldn't be cured, or that they couldn't be taken into custody peacefully. He wanted to believe that, when they surrendered, they wouldn't try to stab him when his buster was down.

How could there be anyone, Maverick or Hunter, who was actually eager for war? Especially when they had to know that, someday, somehow, they would end up dead; no one was so blind they could overlook the stains across the roads, the bodies- friend and foe alike- piled indiscriminately in ditches, and spilling from highways into the streets below.

He had been a lab technician, following Dr. Cain's every move like an eager toddling child, his only desire to see newbuilts open their eyes for the first time...He had seen Sigma's eyes open, when they were unmarked by X's furious fingers. It was amazing how a little change in code could turn something so innocent, so eager to protect and serve, into a being with no regard for consequence or life.

Zero had been built that way, with that helpless killer-instinct inside him. His father had created Zero with the antipode of Asimov's Law, had taken away his freewill, and reduced him to little more than an automaton with an attitude. Zero would have taken offense at that comparison, and would have punched him in the arm and told him he was thinking too m- But Zero wasn't here! And he wouldn't _be_ here- and all those cursed scavengers had left behind was a strand of golden hair and his valiant, _idiot_ blood, and a foolish, grieving pacifist ...

X sank to his knees, in the same place where he'd cradled Zero, and picked the remnant of his best friend's mane up in his gloved hand. It left red streaks across his pristine white palm and held stubbornly tensile as he tested it thoughtfully…. Really, he'd known his father had designed him to be as human as possible, but this urge to cry was ridiculous; he was an Irregular Hunter, he'd just taken down the Maverick Commander and he was _crying?_ He was being promoted- if the flying gossip on the airwaves could be trusted- there was talk of the 17th Unit: the Unit half those incredibly powerful Mavericks- including Sigma- had come from... It was Zero's Unit...

X's first tear dripped onto his palm and reddened with his only friend's lifeblood. _Zero…_why_? Why would you do this? ...Why would you leave me alone here?_

_But, maybe, you didn't want to be left alone either, Zero... _

X picked himself off the ground once his roiling emotions were under control again, and wiped the tears from his face, leaving behind smears of Zero's blood in their place. It wouldn't do...to squander a hero's sacrifice by wallowing on the ground where they became a martyr.

_You had to die so that I could live…Zero, I don't know what you saw in me... Do you believe what Sigma says? Do you think I have limitless potential-, the potential to change the world? I don't know if I can do that… When Reploids started going Maverick, I wanted to change it…but I was unsure, I was only Hunter who couldn't pull the trigger…I'm not unsure anymore, Zero, you've given me resolve. This world will change; with your sacrifice, I'll make it better..._

_I promise._

* * *

><p>AN: Post X1 one-shot. Posted during a thunderstorm (Oh you genius blonde...)<p>

__Disclaimer: I don't own the Mega Man franchise.


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